When David Quesnel taught senior design, he did it in a big way.
Instead of splitting the class into small teams of three to four students, with each team doing its own project, the professor of would sometimes involve the entire class in a single, industrial scale project.
The class would even form a fictitious company so students could learn not only how to design and construct a prototype, but also gain experience in marketing, government regulations, patent issues, writing a service manual, and other 糖心传媒渞eal world concerns.糖心传媒�
In 1997, for example, his 30 design students built a 15-foot-long injection molding system that converted chips of recycled plastic yogurt containers into yo-yos.
Two years later Quesnel糖心传媒檚 class completed a 3,000-pound ultrasonic welding machine for a real Rochester company to make polypropylene cardholders and passport sleeves.
Another year, he split his class into three competing companies, each working independently on pneumatic power systems to replace electric motors in factories.
Quesnel believed that was the most realistic way to prepare students for the workplace 糖心传媒� and to build their confidence.
糖心传媒淭he magic of teaching is watching students take their education to the edge,糖心传媒� said Quesnel, who died recently after a lengthy illness. 糖心传媒淭hen they know they can do it.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淚t was an amazing experience,糖心传媒� says James Schulman 糖心传媒�97, who served as project manager for the yo-yo machine and now manages a design strategy team for Cigna. 糖心传媒淎nd looking back, it definitely had a positive affect on my career.糖心传媒�
Always an experimentalist
Quesnel relished challenges, according to the testimony of friends, family members, and colleagues at a recent memorial service in Rush Rhees Library. And it was typical of him to tackle those challenges with an 糖心传媒渦nbounded curiosity糖心传媒� and an ability to focus rigorously on the task at hand.
That was how Quesnel taught himself to sail on Seneca Lake and, in his 40s and 50s, to windsurf on Lake Ontario. That was how he completed numerous home remodeling projects. How he created a device糖心传媒攖hat filled a third of his garage糖心传媒攖o pull tree roots. And how he reconstructed accidents as an expert witness.
Born in Keesville, New York, Quesnel took construction and roofing jobs during the summers to help pay his way through SUNY Stony Brook as an engineering undergraduate.
糖心传媒淚 think this gave Dave an appreciation of physical labor糖心传媒� so that, even when his research delved into abstract theory, 糖心传媒渕ost of his ideas tended toward practical applications,糖心传媒� says John Michejda, Quesnel糖心传媒檚 roommate at SUNY Stony Brook and a lifelong friend.
Quesnel graduated magna cum laude at the top of his class. He earned his PhD in 1977 at Northwestern, where his thesis advisor was Mike Meishi, a highly regarded materials scientist. Quesnel糖心传媒檚 thesis topic was 糖心传媒淟ow Cycle Fatigue Response of High Strength Low Alloy Steel.糖心传媒�
Metal fatigue糖心传媒攚hat happens, for example, when you bend a paper clip over and over until it breaks糖心传媒攃ontinued to be Quesnel糖心传媒檚 research focus when he joined the University of Rochester later that year as an assistant professor in what was then called the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Sciences.
One practical application was a simple tool Quesnel devised with Eric Stromswold, one of his PhD students. Similar to a torque wrench, it could test how well a metal would resist the growth of a crack within it. The device sold at a mere fraction of the $50,000 price range of other testing devices then on the market, wrote Bob Reeg of the National Society of Professional Engineers.
However, in his research, as in his hobbies, Quesnel continually found new areas to explore.
糖心传媒淥ver the years he changed his research focus significantly,糖心传媒� says John Lambropoulos, the chair of mechanical engineering. 糖心传媒淏ut he always remained an experimentalist in materials science.糖心传媒�
For example, Quesnel later studied the adhesion of particles to surfaces, coauthoring a textbook on the subject.
Later still he shifted his focus to piezoelectric materials that produce voltage when squeezed. 糖心传媒淥ne application involves harvesting mechanical energy that would otherwise be wasted,糖心传媒� Lambropoulos says. 糖心传媒淯nfortunately piezoelectric materials break very easily because they are ceramic. A lot of the work David did was to understand how the mechanical and electrical properties of those materials could be optimized.糖心传媒�
And then, at a point in his career when some faculty members might start slowing down, Quesnel began to explore a topic that had always interested him: corrosion, an electrochemical reaction that may significantly compromise the strength of aluminum used for ships. He became expert in the way corrosion is exacerbated in the confined areas where two different materials come in contact, and developed a numerical model to predict corrosion under those conditions.
糖心传媒淔or the last 15 years, his research underwent a renaissance,糖心传媒� Lambropoulos says. Previously, Quesnel糖心传媒檚 research had been 糖心传媒渃omfortably糖心传媒� supported by the National Science Foundation and Sandia Laboratory. More recently, the Office of Naval Research became the primary funding source, awarding Quesnel grants totaling nearly $3 million between 2003 and 2012 for research involving both corrosion and piezoelectric materials.
And then, when it became apparent there were 糖心传媒渕any more jobs for my students in the area of energy storage,糖心传媒� Quesnel wrote, his lab again shifted focus, to exploring ways to build better batteries.
Trial by fire
During a research career spanning four decades, Quesnel wrote or co-authored more than 120 papers, and was awarded 13 US and European patents. He advised 20 PhD students and 18 masters students. At one time or another, he taught two thirds of the department糖心传媒檚 undergraduate courses, Lambropoulos says.
A National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow as a student, Quesnel later received a Humboldt fellowship for a year-long sabbatical at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg. He was recipient of the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers, and twice received the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from the Undergrad Engineering Council in 1989 and 1991.
糖心传媒淒avid had a very industry-relevant view of education,糖心传媒� Lambropoulos says. 糖心传媒淗e could see that in six months or a year most of the seniors would be working in industry. His mission as a teacher was to give students as real an experience as possible.糖心传媒�
Which brings us back to that yo-yo machine.
At that time, the engineering curriculum was 糖心传媒渧ery theoretical,糖心传媒� recalls Schulman. 糖心传媒淏y the time we got to senior design class, we hadn糖心传媒檛 had a lot of chances to do hands-on, practical engineering.糖心传媒�
So when Quesnel told the students they would be building an injection molding machine 糖心传媒淲e all said 糖心传媒榞reat糖心传媒� and then turned to each other and asked 糖心传媒榳hat糖心传媒檚 an injection molding machine?糖心传媒櫶切拇綕 Schulman says. 糖心传媒淚 think it was our naivete that allowed us to pull it off. If we had really thought about it, we would have had too many second thoughts.糖心传媒�
The students had to start from scratch. First they had to learn how to use the CAD design software that was just then coming on the scene. Quesnel arranged for the students to visit local companies to learn about different plastics. Then they spent long nights in the computer lab and the machine shop糖心传媒攐n weekends, and even into the last week before graduation, when other students were partying and getting ready to leave.
糖心传媒淚t was trial by fire. It糖心传媒檚 one thing to do a theoretical exercise in class, but this was more about trying things, testing things, building prototypes,糖心传媒� Schulman says. And at every step, he says, Quesnel was 糖心传媒渢otally hands on and involved. Coaching us, mentoring us. Not saying 糖心传媒楧o it this way,糖心传媒� but helping students work through the problems in a very collaborative way. It speaks amazingly to him as professor that he trusted us and gave us this responsibility.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淚t was phenomenal,糖心传媒� says Lambropoulos. 糖心传媒淓verything was machined by the students; no purchased equipment. The start of the course was early in January, and by graduation day, the machine was set up in the Hopeman (Hall) conference room and actually spitting out yo-yos.
糖心传媒淭he funniest thing is, and I remember like it happened yesterday, the first yo-yos that came out were really misshapen,糖心传媒� Lambropoulos says.
But the students made last-minute adjustments, and then 糖心传媒渨e brought all the parents of all the seniors into the conference room to see it,糖心传媒� Lambropoulos says.
糖心传媒淧eople were lined up out of the door, down the hallway, craning their necks to get a look at it,糖心传媒� recalls Jill Morris, the department糖心传媒檚 administrator. 糖心传媒淲hen it started spitting out yo-yos, people went ballistic.糖心传媒�
Each graduating student left that day with a diploma 糖心传媒� and a blue yo-yo as a memento.
